by B. T. Narro
“Desil…” Effie spoke in a rising pitch. “Tell me what is going on right now.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Captain Mmzaza.” Leida looked past him at Effie. “I’m sorry to use your tavern for matters like this, Ms. Elegin. And I’m even sorrier for the following request, but I think it would be best if the rest of us spoke in private outside your lovely establishment.”
Effie took a moment before speaking. “Desil, too?”
“Yes,” he told her.
“But no one can buy Captain Mmzaza drinks if we go into the cold,” the captain complained.
Everyone ignored him. “Fine,” Effie said in a huff.
Desil squeezed her arm and then followed everyone out as Adriya led the way. She and Leida didn’t see Captain Mmzaza leering at their backsides, and they didn’t seem to hear him muttering a few off-color words.
“Hey,” Desil told the old man as he put his hand out to stop him. “Don’t make us regret our decision. This is the last tavern that will serve you, as you’ve said.”
The captain grumbled as he swatted Desil’s hand. “You’re too young to know what women want.” He went right back to staring as he followed them out with a drunken swagger. Desil regretted allowing him to drink as much as he had.
Desil shut the door to the tavern after everyone was outside. He caught his mother watching him through the window with worry in her dark eyes. She’d accepted his decision to find Basen, but that didn’t mean she liked it.
“How well do you know my father, Basen Hiller?” Leida asked Mmzaza.
“He made you? I should’ve shaken his hand in gratitude. I can see the beauty of your mother in you, me pretty. What’s your name?”
“Leida, and this is Adriya. You have an interesting accent. Where are you from?”
“Kyrro, but out in the sea we sailors don’t waste our breath with pleasantries. The ocean sways like me voice, but I am forgiving and the sea is not.” He bowed, stumbling a bit before catching himself. “How can I assist?”
“Can I speak to the two of you?” Desil interrupted.
Leida and Adriya looked at each other in confusion. Eventually Leida shrugged and said, “All right.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Desil took them down the path until they were far enough from Mmzaza to prevent him from overhearing. Desil looked to the still water of the deep blue lake nearby for serenity, a line of silver reflecting the moon.
“I don’t know why he’s behaving himself in front of you,” Desil told Leida, “but he’s not normally like this. I still think you should consider going to Merejic instead, and we can leave from there.”
“Nonsense,” Adriya interjected. “The old man will do fine.”
“I agree with Adriya,” Leida said. “We don’t have time to go all the way to Merejic and beg the Elves for a ship. Their leader already doesn’t like my father. Why would he help me?”
“I’m not sure it will be safe on a ship with Mmzaza,” Desil argued. “He can’t possibly be the skilled captain he says he is. You’d agree if he showed his true self to you.”
Leida shook her head. “He’s our only option.”
“It has to be Za,” Adriya added.
The captain stumbled out from behind a tree. “The last woman Captain Mmzaza was with called him Za. But bless me eyes, she was a hag compared to you.” His gaze roamed Adriya’s body, eventually settling on her chest.
She scowled and cleared her throat, sending his gaze up to her face.
“We need to speak to you about something secret,” Leida told him.
“Captain Mmzaza is full of secrets. Of those I do tell, no one believes the ramblings of an old man.” He hung his head. The two women might’ve pitied him, but Desil refused.
“I need you to promise you will keep this one,” Leida said in a sweet tone.
“For you, I would part the sea. Is it Kanoan, me pretty? You wish to go like your father? I will take both of you lovelies, but I require payment.”
“It’ll be the three of us.” Leida gave Desil a sad look. “I couldn’t convince anyone else to come because they’re all needed here. War is coming whether or not they want to fight. Protecting the lives of their students is their obligation, so they must prepare them rather than abandon them. What’s worse is that now more than a few people know of the plan. We must avoid Beatrix at all costs and leave quickly before we’re stopped.”
“If you insist that we go with Mmzaza,” Desil said, “then I have some coin I can contribute. And I might be able to get some more from my mother.”
“That’s kind of you, but I’m sure I can handle it.”
Desil had to swallow his pride. Her parents, especially her father, probably earned fifty times the amount of his mother, who used to offer Desil a portion each week for his help. He stopped accepting it when he became a man at fourteen, as he no longer saw the point because there was nothing to spend it on. If an expense did come up in the future, he was certain she would assist him.
Leida asked the captain, “How much do you require to get us here?” She took out a map she must’ve drawn based on the memory Basen had left for her and pointed to an impressively accurate rendition of Kanoan’s outline, with more detail on the eastern side where they would dock.
“It requires more than money. Captain Mmzaza needs time to assemble his crew.”
“How long?” Leida asked.
“They should have me ship ready by tomorrow evening.”
Leida tapped her fingers on her other hand as she looked down, no doubt thinking of an alternative. She tilted her head up and spoke in a demanding voice more common of Adriya. “It has to be sooner. I will pay you and your crew twenty kymarks if we can leave by tomorrow morning.”
“The morning? Hah! No. Impossible.”
“You said you would part the sea for me,” Leida argued. “Surely getting your crew and your ship ready by morning would be easier.”
“I said I would part the sea for you, not your coin.” He lifted his unkempt eyebrows at her.
“Mmzaza!” Desil scolded. “Apologize or it will be the last time you see either of these two.”
“Let us hear what they say first, boy.”
“A kiss on the cheek,” Leida said to Desil’s surprise. “And the twenty kymarks, but you must be ready by morning.”
“I accept if you give me one kiss now,” the captain said, “and one when we get there. But the second will be on me lips.” He licked them as he leered at her. “You won’t regret it!”
Leida’s chin dipped down. She looked as if someone had put a plate full of worms in front of her and ordered her to eat them.
“What’s your name?” Mmzaza asked the other woman.
“Adriya.”
“It can be you I kiss if you’d prefer. I like tall and strong women.” He puffed out his chest. “Do you like the same of your men?”
“Do you have any manners?” Adriya retorted.
“More importantly, do you even have a ship?” Desil thought to ask. “You were begging for a free drink just an hour ago.”
“Captain Mmzaza is too old for manners and lies; he has time for neither. Me old ship is waiting at Gendock, plenty big. It was sold to a fishmonger while I was gone, but I took it back! The man didn’t even sail, only planned to trade it. Took nearly all me coin. Now I will beg, but I will never sell me ship! I can sail it through any water. Any water! Rough, calm, rocky. If the land opens enough and is willing, Captain Mmzaza can stick his ship through the narrowest canals. And it never sinks!” He laughed loudly as he produced a flask from inside his coat.
Desil snatched it away before the captain could get his lips on it. “If you’re going to be spending the rest of the night assembling your crew, you’ve had enough.”
“You think you can—hah!” Mmzaza tried to surprise Desil with a quick grab at his flask, but he tripped over nothing and fell on his face.
Desil’s heart jumped when the captain made no sound nor movement.
>
“Bastial hell, you killed him!” Adriya shoved Desil aside and crouched down over the sprawled old man. “Za, are you all right?” She shook his shoulder.
Suddenly the Captain wheezed out a long cough. He gingerly turned onto his back. “Help an old man up?”
Desil reached down and grabbed his arm, but Mmzaza pulled his arm out of Desil’s grip and slapped his hand away. “Not you, boy! One of the pretties.”
It was clear by then that he had feigned injury. Adriya huffed as she walked away, while Leida crouched and addressed the captain with a stern look on her face.
“This might just be a game to you, but my whole life right now revolves around getting to Kanoan as soon as possible. You will get your first kiss from either me or Adriya when we arrive. You will get your twenty kymarks for yourself and your crew, but that is a lot of money so all of you must agree to come back to Kanoan for us in one week. I might not find my parents in Kanoan before then, so I will need your ship to get back to Kyrro. You will receive your second kiss after you bring us home. Do you agree?”
“Thirty kymarks for two trips.” The captain sat up. “And the kisses are only for Captain Mmzaza, and it must be done in front of me crew. Lip kisses. There is a reputation among me men I must retain.”
Leida glanced at Adriya from the tops of her eyes. “I only have twenty kymarks.”
Adriya frowned. I only have five, and I can’t ask my parents. If they find out, they would keep me from going.”
She’s doing all of this behind their backs? Now leaving as soon as possible made even more sense.
“I can get five,” Desil offered, though it might take some convincing to get most from his mother after she found out what he was going to do. Five kymarks was still a lot of money no matter why he wanted it. Most days the tavern’s profits amounted to less than one.
“Thank you, Desil,” Leida said with a smile.
He forgot all about the impending conversation with his mother as he lost himself in her piercing gaze. A smile forced itself onto his mouth.
“And where do you plan to get five kymarks?” It was his mother’s irate voice.
Oh hell. His heart shot up into his throat.
She came out from behind the same tree where Mmzaza had eavesdropped. Desil should’ve picked a better spot.
“From you, Mother, I hope.”
She sighed. “I just got here, but I heard enough to know you’re planning to leave. Where to, Desil?”
He felt his shoulders sink as he realized there was no delaying this any longer. “To Kanoan.” He did think of something that might lighten the mood, though. “We could use your help. It’s been years since we’ve left Kyrro together, and this would be for a better cause than ever before.”
She put up her hands. “I did enough for Basen when I was younger. I would lose the tavern if I left. And if I thought I had a chance of stopping you from going as well, I would. Kanoan is full of criminals.”
“Not true.” Captain Mmzaza lifted a finger. “Many of the criminals had children. Some of them are good like Captain Mmzaza. They sent me there twenty-five years ago during the Takary War, but I was only in prison for telling the truth about the king! Innocent, like a few others. Everyone else claimed innocence, but they are liars. None of you have asked Captain Mmzaza if he wishes to return to the island. I don’t. I built me own boat and sailed back here me self. I offered to bring others back with me, but they were cowards. Didn’t trust their captain to keep the boat afloat. I’m the only one who made it off that forsaken island!”
“How small was the boat?” Desil asked, ready to compare it to the ship they would find at the docks tomorrow morning.
“Too small. Every wave was a threat. The voyage back to Kanoan be safe. No worries, boy. I’m seventy-two, and I’m just as strong as when I was fifty!”
Must’ve been quite weak at fifty.
“That settles everything,” Leida announced. “Gather your crew and be ready in Gendock by sunrise.”
“I’ll need me drink.” He reached for it.
Desil gave it back to him and watched as the captain leaned back and had a gulp, then swaggered off down the path and out of Kayvol.
Desil needed to apologize to his mother for not telling her…but as he looked over and saw her glaring, he realized he needed much more than an apology.
“Desil, a word in private?” He could hear in Effie’s tone that it was a demand, though she had a motherly way of disguising it as a request.
Leida said, “We need to return to the Academy anyway to gather supplies for the trip. Desil, I want to thank you, and Ms. Elegin I wish to apologize. I didn’t mean to bring this strain onto your family.”
“It’s not your fault,” Desil’s mother told her.
“Thank you for saying that.” Leida’s gaze shifted to Desil, no doubt waiting for his confirmation.
“I’ll be there tomorrow morning,” he said.
“Goodbye.” Adriya bowed her head to Effie. “Thank you for your hospitality.”
“Come back to the tavern anytime. Be safe.” The two women turned to leave. “Wait,” Effie called. “I should warn you, Adriya, that I am obligated to tell your parents about you leaving if you don’t. They are friends of mine, even though I haven’t spoken to them in years. They would give me the same courtesy about Desil, I hope.”
“I will leave a note in my campus house that they will find tomorrow when they come looking for me.”
Effie shook her head. “No, you must tell them tonight and listen to what they say. It’s always better to tell them before, not after.” She gave Desil a disappointed look from the corner of her eye.
Adriya thought for a moment. “I will.”
“Good.”
She and Leida left Desil alone with his mother. He hoped she would visit Reela while he was away and make amends. Effie used to see her friend every week until all of Reela’s time was suddenly taken up by the Wind Knights organization. It was years later when Desil thought to ask what happened between them, and Effie told him that Reela had wanted her and Wade to join. But Desil’s parents wanted nothing to do with fighting anymore, which is what the Wind Knights would end up doing eventually.
Later, Effie wanted Reela to promise that the Wind Knights would protect Desil from fighting in a war if he were to join the Academy. Reela couldn’t make that promise unless Effie and Wade became part of the Wind Knights. It seemed like an easy decision to Desil, but Effie told him it used to be even more dangerous to join the Wind Knights than the Academy. When the king found out about the developing organization, he’d tried to put a stop to it through any means necessary, short of killing.
Effie and Wade had dreamed about opening a tavern when they were done adventuring, but the king would’ve never allowed it if he found out they were with the Wind Knights. In fact, he would actively make their lives more difficult no matter what they did until they came before one of his psychics and said they were no longer part of the organization, as many had done.
The only way of keeping Desil safe, in Effie’s eyes, was keeping him out of the Academy. It wasn’t so difficult for Desil to accept when Wade was still alive, for the two of them found time to adventure in Kyrro and beyond while Effie looked after the tavern. But after Wade died, Desil didn’t have the heart to explore Ovira on his own, and his mother couldn’t leave her livelihood.
The king eventually lost the political battle against the Wind Knights, as there were too many people of value to him who had agreed to join. Desil heard less and less about it, as the tension grew between Effie and Reela. The last news was that after the king seemed to realize he couldn’t shatter the organization, he decided he would continue to pester its members in hopes of convincing some to disband and deterring others from joining. This was probably when the arguments between him and the headmaster had begun.
“You promised me,” Effie said now. “You promised you would tell me more as soon as you could.”
“I did,” Desi
l replied. “But only so long as it didn’t put us in danger. It’s creating a risk even now. That’s the only reason I didn’t say so earlier.”
“So you were going to wait until the morning you left? You would kiss me on the cheek with your bag packed and say, ‘Goodbye. You might never see me again.’ That was your plan?”
“I was going to tell you right after the plan was confirmed. I didn’t think Leida would choose to use Captain Mmzaza after she met him. Instead, I figured we would have to travel to Merejic and take a boat from there. Adriya’s father had offered to take us, which would’ve given me the opportunity to explain everything to you. But Leida’s determination to get to Kanoan as soon as possible came as a surprise, though I suppose it shouldn’t have.”
“The Hillers are very determined people. You will find that out soon enough.” Effie sighed again. She’d been doing it often in the last few days.
“I know you’re worried,” Desil spoke for her. “You don’t want me to go, but you’re conflicted as to whether I should. I think you’re even tempted to go with us to help keep me safe, but you can’t. I would gladly have you accompany us if it was possible, but it would break the contract with the king about maintaining our tavern as well as break the Academy contract not to leave Ovira without the king’s permission.” Desil stopped to give her a chance to reply.
His mother said nothing. They stood in the cold, silent for quite some time. Eventually she took his arm and walked with him to the edge of the lake, where they looked out across the water.
“I realize there’s no stopping you,” she said.
“There isn’t.”
“I’m glad I don’t need your help with the tavern anymore, but I like having you there.”
“I don’t care much for the menial work, but I like being there with you as well. I love you, Mother.”
“I love you, too. Promise you’ll come back safely.”
“I promise.”
“And there’s one more promise you have to make, and then I will let you go.”
“What is it?”
“Find Basen and Alabell as soon as you can. You will be safer with them.”
